Hi, This is my first post and I am sort of new to rpg's. I played a few back in the Amiga days but since then it has been platform games on the N64 through to the Wii and DS.

This week I bought Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen on the DS after reading Patrick Gann's review.

I just can't seem to get used to the random turn based battles; there seem to be to many which slows down the game. I will keep going and hope it grows on me.

Are there any rpg's that don't have the random battles and are they better? Are there rpg's that don't have battles at all? I do remember playing Lost kingdoms on the Game Cube which I seem to remember enjoying.......I think that was a sort of rpg.

You're probably screwed if DQIV's bugging you as that's one of the speedier RPGs there is, but nevertheless here's two suggestions: Chrono Trigger and Persona 3 (possibly 4 too actually). Both don't have random encounters, and the battles are fairly speedy. Also two of the best RPGs there are.

Just XII. Of the ones I've completed, VII through X-2, all have random battles. Persona 3 is great but may be a bit more challenging than some other RPGs, tho is one of the easier ones in the Shin Megami series.

Concerning battles, in basically every RPG I've played, battles serve some function in leveling up, either by gaining direct experience, or action points for abilities, or license points or money to buy abilities and weapons, or materials to make armor or weapons, etc, etc. If you avoid battles or run from them too much, you may find that your characters will be underleveled and unable to progress in the game as you will be unable to defeat a story boss character.

I was looking at the reviews for Chrono Trigger and they are good so I might give it a try. I have not come across Persona 3 or 4 but I will look at the reviews.

P4 will be out really soon, so you wouldn't see it on shelves until 12/10 at the earliest, and Persona 3 is $23 on Amazon for the Fes edition, and you'd normally find it for $30 anyway. Fes has an extra scenario and quite a few additions to the main game, and since finding the original new would actually be more expensive that's the version you should get.

As for the reviews: It's always a good idea to look (Metacritic puts it at 89 if you value that), but there's a number of issues I thought could bug me that I was actually fine with when I played, notably the limited number of days and the fact there's only a single, randomized dungeon in the game. Outside of the reviews though P3's easily one of the best received RPGs I've seen in a long time, even getting people sick of the genre to love it. Given the price it's definitely worth checking out even if you have doubts.

Tales of Symphonia is awesome, and that doesn't have random battles. It's on the GameCube (it did come out on the PS2, but not outside Japan), but then again it's pretty rare now. But if you can find it for an affordable price, definitely give it a go!

Super Mario RPG came out on the Virtual Console recently, and that's a true classic! Random battle are also absent from it. So i'd like to suggest that too. Paper Mario is also on VC and that has no random encounters either.

There's also a genre called "Action RPGs" that have no turn based battles at all, if that's what you don't like..Legend of Zelda series, Alundra, Ys, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy XII...

I agree with a lot of the people in the thread but I like the ones listed here the most.

Chrono Trigger - a superb choice. And if you have a Nintendo DS, you can play it on that system on November 25th.Secret of Mana - great idea to try if you don't mind playing a Super Nintendo game.Final Fantasy XII - great idea to try. Final Fantasy XII is kind of like the others but on an auto pilot algorithm set by the player.Legend of Zelda - great idea as well. Find the one that suits you best whether it be Twilight Princess on the gamecube, Ocarina of Time on the N64, or A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo. All good games.

This is why all turn-based RPGs should include an item or some kind of option to skip battles. Repel in Poke'mon works but it costs a little. In Legaia I think there was a relatively inexpensive item for both increasing and decreasing random encounters.

Other games have tried less succesful attempts, for example Wild Arms 3's ECN gauge. It wasn't a bad idea but it was limited. You could increase the size of your gauge making it last longer but it's still limited and you'd have to get farther in the game to do so.

If games just do this I think there would be little reason for anyone to complain. I mean, I guess some people will still prefer action RPGs but I prefer random encounters and turn-based action.

There's also a genre called "Action RPGs" that have no turn based battles at all, if that's what you don't like..Legend of Zelda series, Alundra, Ys, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy XII...

I've argued before about Zelda's classification, and Alundra by proxy would probably be disqualified too, but FFXII is definitely not an action RPG. There might be some similar appeal, but if that's an action RPG then so's WoW.

I was looking at the reviews for Chrono Trigger and they are good so I might give it a try. I have not come across Persona 3 or 4 but I will look at the reviews.

P4 will be out really soon, so you wouldn't see it on shelves until 12/10 at the earliest, and Persona 3 is $23 on Amazon for the Fes edition, and you'd normally find it for $30 anyway. Fes has an extra scenario and quite a few additions to the main game, and since finding the original new would actually be more expensive that's the version you should get.

Gamestop just dropped the price of new copies of Persona 3: FES down to $20. Since I haven't beaten the game yet (I played through about 2/3rds of the original version before selling it in anticipation of buying FES which I had yet to do), I went ahead and picked it up today and have started to replay it.

Didn't Odin Sphere turn GH a little while back? If so, that may a game to look into. It some sort of hybrid, but it's absolutely wonderful. No slow battles and just two stats to keep track of. The game is rather difficult, but you can always start on Easy if you want to.

You could also try something entirely different. If you dislike random battles because they serve no purpose other than gaining Exp., you may want to try a strategy RPG like Fire Emblem. These games are turn-based, but atleast every battles serves a purpose. Okay, unless you're playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (2), that's just one boring quest after another...

My younger sister isn't much of a gamer, but she likes the Atelier Iris games. These RPG's don't put emphasis on fighting, but have fast battle systems anyway.

Or if you want a story-centric game without any fighting, try a graphic adventure. Trace Memory, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, and the Phoenix Wright games are killer DS titles.

My personal favorite DS RPG is The World Ends With You which does a great job in letting the gamer dictate how much or how little they want to fight, and encounters are never random. The battle system is a bit chaotic, though.

I'm not a fan of random battles either. I wish Japanese RPGs would put an end to that outdated mechanic once and for all, but many still use it. Western RPGs (western meaning developed in the western hemisphere) used random battles initially, but those went bye-bye long ago. Still, I tolerate random battles because otherwise I'd miss out on a lot of really good JRPGs.

EDIT: Say, what are some other RPGs you remember enjoying, or just games in general? Now that I think about it, I'd like a better frame of reference before I recommend something. I figure since you picked up Dragon Quest 4, that you prefer fantasy in the vein of D&D? If so, would a game that takes place in modern day Shibuya, as The World Ends With You does, not be to your taste? Are you only looking at the DS and Wii platforms? Would you want recommendations of PC RPGs? Since you mention the Amiga days, I wonder if a Bioware title like Baldur's Gate or something may be more to taste.

EDIT: Say, what are some other RPGs you remember enjoying, or just games in general? Now that I think about it, I'd like a better frame of reference before I recommend something. I figure since you picked up Dragon Quest 4, that you prefer fantasy in the vein of D&D? If so, would a game that takes place in modern day Shibuya, as The World Ends With You does, not be to your taste? Are you only looking at the DS and Wii platforms? Would you want recommendations of PC RPGs? Since you mention the Amiga days, I wonder if a Bioware title like Baldur's Gate or something may be more to taste.

I was listening to a radio phone-in show and they were talking about World of Warcraft and how so many people seen to be addicted to it and how involved it is. That’s when I thought I would like to give the rpg’s another try, but not online games………not yet anyway. I have a Wii and a DS and a PC but I don’t play games on the PC. The Wii doesn’t seem to have any rpg’s so that leaves me with the DS.

This thread has given me a few ideas to try. I will give Chrono Trigger a go when it is released here (UK) next April and I will get FFXII.

I have got into Dragon Quest 4 a bit more now and it is growing on me. One thing I don’t like about it is that it does not indicate the strength of the enemy you are in battle with. You can hit it ten times and you don’t know what percent of damage has been done.

My ideal rpg would be one where the enemy is visible, good 3d graphics, a storyline that makes sense ( not to childish) and has more of a western medieval feel about it. Some of the Japanese games tend to get to involved their own folk lore and loose a lot in translation.

I thought the Wii with it’s point system remote would be ideal for rpg’s but the Playstation 3 looks like the better console for that.